New Books

Love this book! Simple and effective. Better than affirmations. Bought extras for friends and family.

Different from the self-help category I've used, it made sense, doesn't take long to read, and it's a great tool to use in order to achieve your goals.

I like this book. It is small and I keep it in the car or in my purse so I can take it out when I am stuck in traffic or in a waiting room. afformations work! The mind is a powerful thing. It can work for you or against you! The mind will automatically try and figure things out if you ask it a question and this is how these afformations work.

Not sure what I expected before getting this little book. What I got was a simple (the genius of this is in its powerful simplicity) and more potent(in plausible theory)spin on the old affirmations model that has been with us for for generations.

Personally, doing a kabillion affirmations has delivered only scattered results over my thirty five years of using them. I am pleased that Noah was given this "affirmations on steroids" model by his inner resources that fateful day in the shower. I fear the setting of new intentions in our subconscious mind in this new way is so simple, most persons will fail to try it or stick with it because most of us suffer from a "if it ain't hard, it can't be good" mind set.

Too early in the game for me to report any results with afformations, but I fully intend to abandon doing affirmations that mostly serves to bring to the surface the very thing(s) I was doing affirmations to resolve or transform and adopt the afformation questioning process.

Lastly, dealing with the publisher and co-author of the book, Denise Berard was a good experience. Always answered my email in a timely fashion and shipped the book to me ASAP so I would get it in time to take with me on vacation.

The Great Little Book of Afformations is like a breath of fresh air! I've been a student of visualizations and positive affirmations/thinking for many years and did not have as much success as this book provides! Positive affirmations usually take quite a long time to work because you have to change the negative belief system of your resistant subconscious. Whereas asking a question, the subconscious quickly works to find the answer! Try this experiment and test it for yourself - say an affirmation such as "I love my job (or whatever it is you would like to change)". Do you hear or feel that little voice in you saying, "yeah, right! That's not true!" or something along that line. Now, ask, "why do I love my job so much?" and you will not feel the resistance that was there with the affirmation! Keep asking the question and the subconscious will work to answer why you love your job so much! Noah St. John and Denise Berard are brilliant! Thank you for writing and sharing this wonderful little book that can quickly and easily change anyone's life for the better!

A.A. literature and independent research make clear the relevance of this little book to the A.A., 12-Step, Recovery picture. See Dr. Bob's Library, 3rd ed.[[ASIN:1885803257 ; DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers ; The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth [[ASIN:1885803265 ]; The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous[[ASIN:1885803176 ; and Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.'s Spiritual Roots and Successes.[[ASIN:1885803079. A.A.'s co-founder Dr. Bob said hundreds of time that 1 Corinthians 13 was an absolutely essential part of the early A.A. program. He thought so much of this Drummond study that he circulated The Greatest Thing in the World widely among the A.A. pioneers. It was part of his library. It was part of his expression of the meaning of love. For that's what the Corinthians chapter and the Drummond book are about.

I heard Larry Burkett highly praise this book years ago so I got one. I agree, this is an awesome book. read just a few pages and it will change your heart to love others more, no matter how grouchy you are at the time. I prefer the older editions of this book, they fit in my purse better

My brother sent me a copy. He liked it so much he brought fifty copies to share with friends. I in turn have purchased copies to give away. It is the Sermon on the Mount, The Gospel of John, and First John all in one by way of expounding upon Paul's great love expose. Gary Trawick.

This book by Henry Drummond is a much-neglected meditation on I Corinthians 13. With kindness and gentle encouragement, Drummond walks the reader through the characteristics of love we all fail so miserably to exhibit in our own lives. Well-written and short, this book should be on the shelf of anyone who is trying to live Scripture.

Hadn't read Henry Drummond's book in years, but I recently picked it up again and re-read it and found it had lost none of its power for me. This book can be read in twenty minutes, but it's a twenty minutes that can change your perception of life and love.

Drummond, who was an inspiring liberal-thinking Christian of the 1800's, divides Paul's chapter on love in First Corinthians into three parts: "love contrasted," "love analyzed," and "love defended." He shows us what love isn't, shows us what it is, and defends it as the "greatest thing in the world." He helps us understand that it is not a burden to love - it's the easiest thing in the world!

This book is one of the most inspiring pieces of Christian literature I've ever read.

This is an amazing epic that has kept me reading and reading. I have been spellbound by all her books I have read and am continuing to read the rest. I hope she continues to create such tales that make you a part of them, draw you in to the stories. I first read Sacred Ground and was hooked, from there Blessing Stone and have continued. All amazing!

It is one of those books that has to be read again years later, as I am doing. If you want a good summer beach read or a cold winter's night read, then pick this one up. This is a good read any time of the year.

I liked the book very muy, although it is too long. The last 100 pages could have been left out, in my opinion. Please notice that there are some rather explicit erotic scenes in de book.

I found this book at a book fair in Washington D.C. and the only reason I bought it was because I needed 10 books in order to have one free. I do not regret my desicion. "Green City In The Sun" is an epic story of the birth of a nation: Kenya. With very likable characters, the story evolves around the Trevetons, a family divided by their ambitions. Only one obstacle will make their dreams dificult to fulfill: Mama Wachera who places a curse on the British family and becomes the spiritual leader of her people, the Kikuyu. Like in a Greek tragedy,all the members of the Treverton family die one by one, except Dr. Grace Treverton who dies of old age, and Debora who comes back to Kenya by Mama Wachera request to her deathbed. Beautiful story, intense plot and very charismatic characters makes this novel a masterpiece of fiction literature.

This is Barbara Wood's best novel. While some of her other novels tend to be formulaic, and sometimes seem awfully familiar, Green City is all original. A great, long read.

High Spirits is an excellent book, and Dianne Salerni has an incisive ability to get into the characters' minds. Her characters were actual people, true, but she has a way of taking them out of the past and sitting them right down next to us, making it feel as if we are seeing their story firsthand.

High Spirits actually seems to be two books in one. The first half is the history of the Fox sisters and how they became famous spiritualists, believed to be able to communicate with the dead. As their fame grows, so too does their infamy, and they must deal with nonbelievers and detractors, some of whom are willing to resort to violence. This lends itself to some harrowing, suspenseful moments.

The second part of the book is a romance, as Maggie Fox falls in love with a man who loves her in return, but is unable to find the courage to make his feelings public. Meanwhile, he demands that she give up her life of spirit rapping, which angers her family to no end as it is their sole means of support. Torn between betraying her family or losing the man she loves, a man who makes these demands yet is unwilling to commit, Maggie rides an emotional rollercoaster. We sit by her side at all times, through the constant ups and downs, not knowing how the ride will end.

It is an enjoyable ride, nonetheless, and one well worth taking.

High Spirits: A Tale of Ghostly Rapping and Romance is a novelistic treatment of a real incident from American history, the story of the Fox sisters, whose childish pranks of communicating with the departed were taken seriously first by family members, then neighbors, and then the community, ultimately growing into a genuine phenomenon. The resulting movement, known as spiritualism, became quite the rage from the 1840s until after the Civil War. Traces of it are not unknown today.

By the time they reached young womanhood Maggie and Kate Fox had achieved near-celebrity status. The proceeds from their appearances financed their blue collar family and allowed them access to the highest circles of society in New York City, Philadelphia, and so forth. Maggie, in particular, developed a relationship with Elisha Kane, an adventurer and explorer whose exploits earned him his own corner in history and fiction.

For this reader, however, the history is not ultimately the point of the book. The story is a rewarding and entertaining study of two sisters, their family, and their acquaintances, as they grow and develop and mature (or fail to). The author has done a splendid and totally convincing job of filling out their lives and personalities and putting real flesh on the bare bones of history. The romantic relationship between Maggie Fox and Elisha Kane is especially well depicted, for example. Good historical fiction is capable of putting us not only in other minds but in other eras, and High Spirits does this beautifully. One can read all the history one wants of the position of women in Victorian society but this book can show us what it actually felt like.

In addition the story is masterfully written and edited. All in all this is a first-class novel.

Some movies bring tears to my eyes; books seldom do.

High Spirits starts with the haunting of Hydesville in 1848. It follows the real life adventures of two sisters, Maggie and Kate Fox. Maggie starts the story by telling us that she began the `deception' when she was too young to know right from wrong. Kate, the younger of the two, regrets her sister's use of that word. To Kate, the dead are real, and the spirits talk to her.

I have well over a hundred books sitting on bookshelves in my study. Some of them I've already started. Since I lost interest in most of them, the bookmarks are still waiting between early pages for me to return. Many of the books I buy end up neglected orphans in need of foster parents.

Books on the best seller lists seldom satisfy me, because they are shallow or seem like a story I've already read. It's almost as if most of them were chosen by those politically correct people we know are out there monitoring what we say and think and learn--people very much like a `few' of the characters in High Spirits.

However, when I find a novel worth reading, it's like walking into an undiscovered country. High Spirits was one of those.

High Spirits is about the lives of the Fox family and two sisters that are devoted to each other. Kate and Maggie are credited with starting the spiritualist movement as a prank. When I first picked up High Spirits, I thought I was going to be reading about ghosts and romance.

To my surprise and satisfaction, I soon discovered that High Spirits offers much more. High Spirits turned out to be a story told on many levels. At times I found myself chuckling. At other times I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat wondering if one of the characters I liked was about to suffer a horrible fate.

High Spirits is also about a dysfunctional but loving and loyal family surviving in a cruel world. On a more personal note, they are like us. It is easy to identify with them. When danger looms from skeptics that threaten Maggie's life, her older sister Leah Fox rescues her in a daring and risky escape that leaves Maggie in heart-pounding terror. Just thinking about myself in the same situation under the same circumstances had me breaking out in a cold sweat, and I'm a combat veteran that served in Vietnam. Maggie was a young girl.

The romance in High Spirits arrives later in the story. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the most widely celebrated American adventurer of the day, eventually walks on stage and fall "madly" in love with Maggie. What turns out to be a complex relationship stands equal to Romeo and Juliet; Tristan & Isolde, and Tony and Maria of West Side Story. That's as far as I'll go. My lips are now zipped shut. Hollywood, pay attention. Stories like this are rare, and Maggie and Elisha were real people.

In High Spirits, the harsh lines that separate the privileged and powerful from the working class show that dysfunctional people come from all levels of society. However, those at the top have the power to do more damage. What they are capable of doing to hurt others is more like a tidal wave washing over distant shores and leaving nothing but destruction and misery in its wake. When Elisha's mother interferes with his love for Maggie, horrible consequences are set in motion.

Although High Spirits reveals that most of us are human at heart, a few inhuman monsters populate our world and wreck havoc wherever they can for selfish, egotistical reasons.

If you are looking for adventure, romance, heartbreak, a bit of history, and a story that will touch you, I recommend this novel. Reading High Spirits will be a journey of discovery that might squeeze out a tear or two like it did for me.

High Spirits is the story of Maggie and Kate Fox from Hydesville, New York, early members of the Spiritualist movement. Their first foray into the realm of Spiritualism was accidental--a prank played upon an annoying relation. However, the contrivance was so successful "that they extended the prank to include parents and their neighbors until deception became their way of life." The two young sisters, barely in their teens and guided by their business savvy older sister, succeeded in convincing people that they were able to communicate with spirits who had passed to the other side by rapping noises created by the cracking sounds of their knees, ankles, and toes. The girls, especially Kate, came to see their séances as a way of providing comfort to grieving relatives by reassuring them that their loved ones were at peace in the afterlife.

The story focuses on the middle sister, Maggie, who falls in love with the explorer, Elisha Kent Kane, who is aware that the Fox sisters' claim to communicate with the dead is a hoax. Before leaving on a rescue mission to the Arctic, Kane extracts a pledge from Maggie that she must give up her rapping, dangling the promise of a wedding before her. She agrees and keeps her eyes on the horizon waiting for her explorer to return.

Dianne Salerni is masterful in recreating the environment of the 1840s that allowed Spiritualism to flourish. Her detailed portraits of the Fox sisters allow modern readers to understand how these young women were able to pull the wool over the eyes of so many, including author James Fenimore Cooper, editor Horace Greeley, and the tragic wife of President Franklin Pierce who had seen her only surviving child crushed in a train accident. Her understanding of the time in which the Fox sisters lived as well as in-depth knowledge of this slice of American history enables her to write this engrossing and compelling story.

There is little I can say about Dianne Salerni's High Spirits that has not already been adequately stated by other reviewers on this page. Although this is Ms. Salerni's first novel, this is not her first book. She has previously published three short teaching manuals of an academic nature, and her experience as a schoolteacher and writer shines from the text of High Spirits. As the well-known curmudgeon of the iUniverse, I can unabashedly say that POD books would not suffer a bad reputation if they all read as fluidly and seamlessly as does High Spirits. The typos are few and the editing is tight. You will feel as if you know The Fox Sisters personally as you turn the final page.

I have been meaning to read Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field (illustrated wonderfully in what I assume is pen and ink by Dorothy P. Lathrop) for a rather long time. Several years ago my mother bought me a reproduction Hitty doll by Robert Raikes (big deal carver of dolls and bears though he no longer seems to be making Hitty dolls).

After buying the doll, and doing a bit of research, we found an edition of Field's novel with the original 1929 text and illustrations. There is another, newer, edition with updated text by Rosemary Wells and illustrations by Susan Jeffers. The newer book came out, I believe, to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of Field's original novel. I never read this version, actually sending it back upon realizing it was an adaptation, but other reviewers' outrage at the changes suggest I was right to do so. If you haven't guessed already, Hitty fans are numerous and loyal.

Hitty, amazingly, was real. Hitty.org is but one site dedicated to chronicling the life and history of this amazing doll. The site includes the picture of a Daguerreotype actually mentioned in the novel as well as a variety of other interesting photos and well-researched facts.

As the subtitle suggests, Hitty is already a centenarian at the start of Field's fictionalized account of her adventures. Safely ensconced in a New York antique store equipped with quill and paper, Hitty decides it is high time to begin setting her story down for posterity. What follows is a children's novel that truly deserves the Newberry Medal it received in 1930 for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Hitty begins her life as a lucky piece of mountain-ash wood carried by an old peddler. In exchange for lodging during a particularly bad Maine winter, the Old Peddler decides to carve his piece of wood into a doll for the family's seven-year-old child, Phoebe Preble. Hitty and Phoebe have their share of adventures during their time together. More, it might be argued, than one doll could manage (including a section that reads very much like part of Moby Dick geared to a much younger audience). But, as readers realize soon enough, Hitty is no ordinary doll. As the story progresses, Hitty passes through many hands and a variety of owners. Like most things, some owners prove better than others in the same way that certain events of Hitty's life are more worthy of space in her memoirs than others.

When you realize that this book is from 1929, well before any other doll novels were published, it becomes clear that Hitty is something special because Field did it first. At first, I thought the novel might come off as dated since it was written so long ago. But I was happily proven wrong and found that the text stood up to my modern standards as well as Hitty's chemise survives her first century. Many of the insights that Hitty expresses throughout the book remain very accurate to this day. Hitty's calm demeanor and buoyant spirit also help to make this doll downright lovable.

Field's prose is wonderful. Even though I knew Hitty was safe in the antique shop, each new peril left me fearing for Hitty and in a state of suspense until I found out if she had survived. The people that Hitty passes during the course of her first century are equally well-realized in the text. In terms of classic children's literature (especially for a younger child), I can't think of many better examples.

If, you want still more Hitty, you can check out Gail Wilson's website. This very talented (and expensive) doll makers features her own version of Hitty available both ready-made and as a kit.

hitty....oh what fun we had reading this together as a family. i certainly did not know what i was geting in to when i started reading it aloud. very well written book; descriptive; memorable. after reading each chapter we wanted to rush to the library to find out about the place she had been. we also cooked a few things from different countries. we did not have a plan; it was so spontaneous; i think that is what i loved about it so much....learning at its best. my older children, after five years still remember vividly certain paragraphs. and we all smile thinking about how much fun we had reading this book together. i can hardly wait to read it to the younger ones. recently i purchased it for my shelf. it is certainly a keeper. copywork, narration, cooking, art, geography/history, a little science, etc... a years worth of curriculum in one book. all you need is a math book and your set. honestly, each chapter is like a springboard and it should not be hard to find a topic to learn more about. make some happy memories, read hitty aloud to your children. they will love it! (and you will, too...)

Many may remember Hitty from decades ago; I was introduced to her just a few years ago. Hitty: Her First Hundred Years is a wonderfully written, beautifully illustrated "children's" book that should be on everyone's reading list, regardless of age.

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, as originally written by Rachel Field in 1929, is delightful. The story follows the adventures of a doll, carved by a peddler from a piece of mountain ash, as told in her own words. From being proclaimed a "heathen" goddess on a South Seas Island, traveling with a snake charmer in India, being alternately a fashion plate and a demure Quakeress in the midst of the Civil War, Hitty and her story are truly captivating. Rachel Field has given the world a wonderfully exciting and deeply touching glimpse at history through the eyes of this remarkable doll. The charm of this old fashioned story is enduring, powerful enough to endear itself to each new generation of readers that discovers it.

This book was interesting and fun to read. Ride along with, the doll, as she tells her life story. Watch as she goes from one owner to the next. This book is an adventure to read. Hitty has seen so much you forget she is a doll. This book pulles you in like a vacuum cleaner. You'll love it when she travles to New York. You'll jump out of your seat when she goes whale hunting or when she gets stuck in a tree. There is a couple of settings but it doesn't jump around. The message that i got out of the story is live life to it's fullest I would recomend this book to preteen girls that like history and fiction. This book was fantabouls!!!!!!!!!!

This is an ageless book on what every person who wants to be successful needs to model. My wife's Uncle, who was highly successful in his time as an executive, gave this book as a graduation gift to every loved one he knew. You just can't lose with such ageless advice.

I can't believe I am 50 and never heard of this book until a co-worker loaned it to me. What a great gift! Who wants to do unimportant and uninteresting things? On a dare, anyone can practice his Four-Fold Development/Four Square Living. Make your checker, sign your name inside and draw the words around it:
Stand Tall
Think Tall
Smile Tall
Live Tall
Or: Play, work, love and worship. Body, brain, heart, soul.
I'll never walk in the shade again. He says the warmth and power of the sun enters your system. Its rays give your face a glow and you reflect sunshine to others.

This I DARE YOU (MP3 CD) version will NOT PLAY ON A CD PLAYER. IT ONLY PLAYS on a computer.
I was a little disappointed since I purchased it to play in the car and on a portable cd player. It only plays on the computer disk player. I'll have to download it myself to an audio MP3 format. It must have been recorded as a DATA file. The narrator is a little momo-toned and I was very surprised that I zoned out on a self-help type CD. There are 14 chapters that run anywhere from 2 minutes 16 seconds to 26 minutes 14 seconds. Some are short, most are average 5-10 minutes.

The "I Dare You plan," first published in 1938 for the young and young at heart, is brightly authored by William H. Danforth, founder of the Purina Company. Written in scoutmaster style, this little gem will have you saluting to adventure. It is precise, simple, and uplifting.

"That is the first principle that I want thoroughly to fix in your mind--that life is a four-sided affair--that your daring program is going to lead you into physical adventures, mental adventures, social adventures, spiritual adventures. You have not one, but four lives to live--a four-fold opportunity to grow. A body, a brain, a heart, and a soul--these are our living tools. To use them is not a task. It is a golden opportunity. To find new capacities within you is not robbing you of any pleasure. It is bringing new treasures into every waking hour. It is helping you touch life at all angles, absorb strength from all contacts, pour out power on all fronts." Danforth adds "How dare you have within yourself these four-fold capacities and not use them?"

Like to be riveted into action? This book will do it. You will also feel rather selfish after the first reading (for witholding your dynamite). Go over it again several times. Mine is highlighted at every point (and there are many). I suggest you study I Dare You! along with the vintage movie "Fighting Father Dunne" (1948).

As one of the other reviewers noted, I too read this original book from my father's library when I was [...], in the 50s. Although almost forgotten, when I was writing articles on leadership, I realized this may have been the single most important book I had read...and used throughout life, becoming a leader in every...yes every...organization I belonged to, from high school Senior class President, college fraternity President, Band president(s), VP-Pres. elect of a national association, President of a state-wide organization, to Editor of a writers Quarterly and business owner. Now at 71, and looking back, "I Dare You" is quite possibly the only book necessary for directions in life. It's not about "success" or "money," it's about being your best and being the best FOR everyone around you.

I'd give this 3 stars in the field of Wiccan books overall (ok, not great or must have), and 4 stars within the niche of books on Covening given that there's not that wide a range (good, but not must have).

Basically, if you're interested in covens or forming a coven, I'd say the two essentials would be Covencrafting by Amber K (more practical focus), and Wicca Covens by Judy Harrow (more group dynamics etc), and after those, this would be my third pick in a very narrow field. I think has a better focus on evaluating an existing coven than Coven forming, but it's also a lot less dense in differing ways than the two other books, which may make it a little less intimidating.

Well, if you are also curious like me what is going on inside a coven - without really getting into one, this book really give a good picture of what it looks like. It does not only give some overview but also gives some light on how to pick up the right coven, criterias for it, how to form your own coven etc.

because of ideas presented, if nothing else.

Any Solitary who ever wondered about the logistics of coven entry should read this book. Edain McCoy writes from the heart in an easy-to-read language which tells it like it is. She relates both the upside & downside of working within a coven & gives common-sense guidelines to creating your own. The importance of ettiquette in group settings is stressed & personal experiences are shared with the reader relating to this & other areas of coven-based practices.

A good book for anyone who may be worried about finding the right coven for themselves (or wondering if the coven setting is right for them!), or those interested in finding out about that side of the Craft which is shared with like-minded others.

This book tells the reader precisely what kind of committment a coven is, how to go about finding one, and what to look for in one. It is also a good guide for those just looking to find general classes or trying to meet other pagans as not everybody is a solitary practitioner by choice. Definitely a great book to have read when screening potential covens, teachers, students, coven members, etc. The advice is practical and down to earth, and quite useful for spotting the predators out there.

Quite possibly the most charming cat stories ever written. Jenny the cat is filled with wonderful emotions that everyone can relate to...nervous about making new friends, afraid that she's not good enough, she proves herself through all sorts of wonderful adventures. Highly recommended!

Friends gave us this one for a birthday present for our six year old. Have since ordered the whole series!
Nice to have children friendly, wholesome story...our children can't hear it enough!

I loved these stories when I was a little girl and its been a joy to pass them along to my own daughters. I love how Jenny realizes her own worth even though she feels so small and shy sometimes. Friends, loyalty, and fun adventures makes these stories timeless

I love Jenny Linsky. I love her gentle nature, her kindness, her shyness. I loved her from the moment I opened the book and read the first paragraphs to my (then) 5 year old daughter. I loved her as I made red pom-poms to tie onto a red scarf so my daughter could dress up as Jenny for Halloween. But five years later, she's my second favorite Linsky. My most favorite is my three year old daughter, Zoe Linsky, whom her big sister lovingly named after the nicest person she could think of, a little black cat named Jenny.

I am so glad they re-released this book--my mother was thrilled to receieve it. Seller sent the book in great condition and it arrived very quickly.

This book is my favorite for any beginner in meditation. It was also the book I read before I sat down on the mat for the first time.
To begin with Ram Dass is a great teacher. He's a westerner to which I can relate much easier than an Indian guru.
The book describes various meditation techniques and what you can expect following this path.
But the best part are the quotes. Ram Dass took a deliberate effort to pick great inspirational quotes which will create your 'must read' list.

This book is great. Ram Dass helped me get a better understanding of what meditation really is and how not to take myself too seriously.

I'm doing a form of meditation called brain entrainment called Holosync through Centerpointe. I wanted to know about meditation: what to expect and perhaps some tips on how to get the most out of it. This book provided all of that and more.

Ram Dass is the best!

I've been a big Ram Dass fan for over twenty years now. I "knew" him when he was just Richard Alpert and worked closely with fellow doctor, Timothy Leary. But like all of us, he wondered, "What's next?" And so he went to India on a Spiritual Journey and had an awakening and came back to the states as Ram Dass which means "servant of God". Since that time he has devoted his life to writing and teaching about spirituality and how we can wake up to the Truth that God is not external to our being, but is our being.

I read this when I was taking my foundation course work to being a Practitioner at my church. I ate it up like a kid eating candy. I was always classified as the "weird" one of the family and learning to meditate would firmly cement the title in place. My stressed out dad would complain to my equally frazzled, recovering fundamentalist sister, "He's crazy, I tell ya...why would anyone wanna learn to meditate..."

Mmmmm...I wonder...

One never really "learns" to meditate...we remember how to meditate. Don't tell me that you don't know how because you do. You just forgot. You still think of yourself as a human doing and not as a human being and it is our nature...our True Nature to simply be and when we allow ourselves to have periods of just being who we are, that which is unlike this beingness falls away.

This book goes through various ways to experience this beingness. Meditation can range from sitting in the lotus position and chanting "Om" to taking a slow and gentle walk being mindful of every step.

Meditation is not something one "gets" and then that's it. To me, daily meditation is a gift I give to myself to remind me of the Truth that the Living Spirit is within me and I am within the Living Spirit and that just as God can never be completely known- because God is Infinite, I can never fully and completely know my mind because my mind is God's Mind. I can, however, "touch the hem of the garment"...in other words, have glimpses of Truth and in these glimpses be encouraged to continue on with my practice. It's never about "getting it"...it's always about "being it" and when I am in that place of Pure Being, I know I am It but I also know that you are It and they are It and We are It and I know that It is us, as well. In Truth, there is only It.

So, I'm still the weird one of the family even though my dad and sister both practice meditation now. I guess I need to have some kind of identification that's tied in with the world. Heaven knows I don't want to "shine" too much.

Yeah, okay, dad...

Shine on, children of Light...shine on...

Peace & Blessings.

john, "the Light Coach"

If you are a point in your life where you've had more than a fleeting thought regarding "there being something more", this book is certainly a fantastic place for beginning your journey to self-discovery (and/or awakening).

I have never been inspired enough to write a review about a book but this book deserves my most profound endorsement.

Best of luck in your journey.

buy it used. good read for the beach. then see her movies.

I enjoyed Lauren Bacall's autobiography better than any autobiography I've ever read. Her style of writing is so personal, it's just a pleasure to read. It's written with heart, it's witty, poignant, and so honest. You'll also learn about the original "Rat Pack", and other celebrities. I can't say enough about this book!

I read this book 20 years ago when it first came out and I couldn't put it down. The love story between her and Bogey was sweet, but tragic. His death was so detailed in this book that when my own father was dying I couldn't help but relate back to her description of Bogey's final hours. It made me sob for her. The mention of Hollywood in the 50's and all of the corrupt politicians trying to blackball performers is deplorable. I believe Ms. Bacall is our current Kate Hepburn - a no BS kind of Hollywood woman that is still well-respected and greatly admired.

I have never considered myself a Lauren Bacall fan but having recently rewatched To Have And Have Not, her film debut, I became intrigued about her and Bogart so I picked up this book after reading such positive reviews here at Amazon.

Well, was I surprised. First this is a very well written autobiography that demonstrates a keen intelligence and a reflectiveness on the past that is truly admirable. It is also incredibly honest and not just a recitation of a Hollywood star's accomplishments.

From Bacall's youth in New York where she tried desperately to find a place in the theater to her ultimate return to the stage as a star after spending years in California as Mrs. Bogart and raising a family, every stage of her life is well examined.

Bogart emerges as a truly good guy, not perfect but clearly they were a great match despite the obvious age difference.

Some of the episodes in her life with Bogart have the added quality of capturing a period in Hollywood and the film industry that is long gone. Bacall isn't and doesn't need to be a name dropper but so many famous characters pop in and out of her story that it is a virtual who's who of 1940's Hollywood.

What I initally picked up as a casual read turned into something much deeper. Lauren Bacall , who I knew little about before reading this is a woman who I came to really like as a result of this book.

Well written and well worth checking out for filmfans, fans of Bogart or anyone interested in acting and theater and the celebrity life of the 40's and 50's.

Lauren Bacall's 1984 autobiography details her humble beginnings, how modeling led to acting, and her marriages and love affairs. She met Bogie on the set of her first movie when she was 19 and he was 43 and married. They fell in love at first sight and had a good marriage until his death. Her next husband was Jason Robards, Jr.; his drinking made for trouble from the start. The ups and downs of her movie and Broadway careers and her love of politics (and politicians) round out the book.

The woman who emerges from the pages is pretty much what I expected - strong, independent, and passionate - but also quite self-centered and spoiled. She's had a charmed life and makes no excuses for her shortcomings.

The book is full of famous tinseltown names and fabulous jet-set locations. She writes as if she were talking, often using ungrammatical half-sentences which slowed me down sometimes, but that is a minor quibble. I heartily recommend it to her fans.